Project Sixteen: Valentine’s Day Loveliness

I don’t do Valentine’s Day. I like to show my love for people when I get the urge to, rather than because I feel I have to because everyone else is. But I did decide to get creative last night (I was feeling in a very loving mood) and made some little lovely gifts for my boys, and designed a few cards too. And the best part about it: there isn’t a hint of a heart, the colour pink, cheesy soppy rubbish or teddy bears.

Here’s the card I made for my mum:

I designed both this card and Mr. B’s card in GIMP, using graphics I downloaded from The Graphics Fairy, and then printed them on A4 sticky label sheets. I cut the images out and stuck them onto blank cards.

Here’s Mr. B’s card:

I like biology, especially human biology and anatomy, so when I found the heart graphic at The Graphics Fairy I instantly knew it would make a great Valentine’s Card. Maybe not to everyone’s taste, but I love it and it will make Mr. B chuckle!

As well as these two cards, I also made a tiny little book for Mr. B and another one for the boy, entitled ‘Ten Things I Love About You’. Each page contains something I love about each of them. I made the books using three small pieces of card folded in half, giving 12 pages that I then sewed together along the spine. I used card from a cereal packet to make the covers, and covered them in scraps of fabric. I used pretty wrapping paper for the inside cover. They turned out pretty well considering I have never made books before, and they only took a couple of hours. They measure 3″ by 2.5″.

I really am not a fan of the ridiculously commercial aspect of Valentine’s Day, it is so vulgar. So much mass-produced, cheap and tacky, pink-and-red, heart and teddy bear covered crap is overflowing the front displays of every shop you walk past. Talk about ruining the spirit of it all. And it’s all destined for landfill sites. Why does the bubbly even have to be pink? Gaaah.

Make your own things for your loved ones. I always love it when someone else makes me something, with love, rather than just buying something. Even if it’s just a cup of tea in bed!